Race for luck in Peru: 17-12-2007
As the New Year approaches cultures from all over the world have different ways to celebrate and bring in good luck.
In Peru visitors can witness a unique way of distributing good luck for the forthcoming year.
The three magi have a busy night from January 5th but they stage a race on one of the highest slopes of the Andes to see what kind of luck will be brought to the area.
Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar run the race under the names of Inkarri, Mistirri and Negrorri.
If Inkarri is victorious then harvests will have a good year because he is protector of the valleys, while a Mistirri win brings a good start to the year for the regions where the cattle are kept.
Should Negrorri come in first then money will be brought to the land rather than fruitfulness or bountiness.
The ritual is practiced throughout the regions of Cuzco and Puno and San Pablo, a village between the two, pays particular attention to the event.
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